Feiten tempered tuning system puts guitars in tune: former Alesis Exec. Allen Wald To Head International Licensing Effort. (Industry Forefront).

COMMITTED TO REDEFINING the tuning standard of the world's most popular musical instrument, Buzz Feiten Design, Inc, was launched to deliver ifs patented technology, the Buzz Feiten Tuning System, to the guitar industry through an aggressive market development and licensing campaign. The system's inventor, world-renowned guitarist Buzz Feiten, co-founded the company with master luthier Greg Back, and musical instrument industry veteran Allen Wald, from their base of operations in Los Angeles.

The Buzz Feiten Tuning System is a revolutionary tempered tuning format that corrects the inherent intonation problems of the guitar and other fretted stringed instruments by repositioning the nut and adjusting the bridge saddles based on formulas invented by Feiten, with additional tempering formulas developed by Back. A top studio and touring guitarist, Feiten's frustration with the guitar's tuning deficiencies spurred a painstaking R&D effort that led to his patented design. Feiten's invention parallels the 17th-century development of the tempered tuning standard for piano that is the fundamental intonation reference for all Western musical instruments. Guitars with the Feiten System are not changed in the way they look or play but benefit from vastly improved intonation over the entire range of the instrument, allowing guitarists to play any chord shape, anywhere on the neck, with proper intonation from note to note and string to string. Users of the system also report enhanced tonal character of their instruments due to improved harmonic resonance.

Guitar legend Larry Carlton, an early adopter of the Feiten System, commented on its virtues: "I've been playing the guitar since I was six years old, and it's finally in tune." Renowned guitarist Adrian Belew stated, "With the Buzz Feiten Tuning System, every note, every chord will be in tune across the entire fretboard--a fundamental requirement but something guitarists have never had until now." Classical virtuoso Liona Boyd said, "Having recently discovered Buzz Feiten's amazing system, I realize that what I had always believed is untrue. A guitar can be in tune in any fret! I would highly recommend his revolutionary approach to guitar tuning for any performer or builder, no matter what style." Guitar virtuoso Steve Vai stated, "I think it's one of the greatest innovations in guitar technology."

Buzz Feiten, senior vice-president of the new company, said, "Every guitarist has experienced it: Certain chords are in tune, and others are out of tune. In 1992 Greg Back and I started developing formulas to `temper' the guitar intonation, much like Johannes Verkneister did for the piano in 1690. After a lot of research, we had a breakthrough. The results were dramatic. For the first time I was able to play chord shapes that I had always avoided because of tuning imperfections. The whole guitar sounded sweeter and more resonant, and for the first time I was truly in tune with the piano. The implications for recording sessions, live performance, and just the pure enjoyment of playing the guitar were profound."

The Feiten System has also been adopted by other leading guitarists, including Joe Satriani, Derek Trucks, Robert Fripp, Jennifer Batten, Jackson Brown, Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Andy Summers, Guns N' Roses, KISS, Roger Waters, Dimebag Darrell, and Pete Anderson, as well as studio veterans Michael Thompson, Michael Landau, Dean Parks, and Scott Henderson, and bassists Jimmy Haslip and Stu Hamm.

The Feiten System is licensed for use on all American-made Washburn guitars and basses and the complete lines of Tom Anderson, Garrison, John Suhr, Gene Baker, McPherson Acoustic Guitars, Galloup Acoustic Guitars, Warr, MTD Basses (Michael Tobias), Red Diamond Mandolins, and Mobius Megatar. Korg also licenses the system for use on its Buzz Feiten model DT-7 Electronic Tuner. The Feiten System has already received worldwide critical acclaim in the guitar press and in authoritative reference works by leading guitar luthiers Dan Erlewine and Paul Guy.

Allen Wald, president and CEO, stated, "Our mission is to bring the benefits of the Buzz Feiten Tuning System to the guitar-playing masses through an authorized retrofit program for existing guitars, increased licensing of new manufacturers, and an aggressive market development campaign. To make the system available for existing guitars, we have developed the Buzz Feiten Tuning System Authorized Retrofitter Training Kit. The kit will teach guitar repair techs and luthiers how to retrofit the vast numbers of guitars already in use worldwide and includes a video training course, initial supplies of our branded Shelf Nut, an encrypted CD-ROM containing our proprietary intonation offsets, guitar and dealer decals, and a certificate of authorization. Wald continued, "To support our retrofitters and licensees, we will mount an aggressive marketing campaign that includes national advertising in guitar magazines, the music and pro audio trades, consumer awareness programs, clinics, and performances, as well as coverge in mainstream media. Our website, www.buzzfeiten.com, covers the subject of guitar intonation and will be a valuable resource for guitarists seeking information and the location of their local authorized retrofitter. Our site also features a strong presence for our licensed manufacturers to cross-promote the system's availability on their new guitars. We intend to dramatically increase our current base of licensed guitar manufacturers so that the Buzz Feiten Tuning System becomes the standard for guitar intonation on all new guitars. We, like a growing number of players and manufacturers, embrace our system as the correct way to intonate the guitar and see it as core to the instrument's fundamental musicality and playability. To promote our licensing program, we will attend NAMM and other trade shows, as well as national and local guitar shows, supporting our licensees through clinics and artist performances, and will offer new license seminars for all interested manufacturers."

For more information on the Feiten Tuning System, contact Allen Wald, President/CEO, Buzz Feiten Design, Inc., 13310 Maxella Avenue #1, Marina del Rey, CA 90292. Telephones: office, [phone]; mobile, [phone]. Email: [e-mail].